I have been reading about Digital Literacy with interest. While I can’t quite completely define Digital Literacy, I certainly run into it on a daily basis, and at lot of the time, it is students.
I have observed the following which I consider digital illiteracy
- unfamiliar with the keyboard
- unskilled using the mouse
- unfamiliar with common Windows or other OS functions
- cannot perform a simple internet search
- can only use one or two programs fluently
- difficulty following simple instructions
And yes, I see it a lot.
Our students have are supposed to attend a technology lab during each grade. Our course there are a lot of pullouts in an attempt to bring students up to grade level, and they do get pulled from the technology lab (common compliant by those teachers).
They are in a required computer literacy course for 1 semester in high school, usually in 7th grade.
Those students who do not have access to technology at home, don’t touch a computer any other time. Once they get to one of my classes, they have forgotten any skills.
There is definitely a digital divide, and we have to find a way to bridge it. By the way, this divide hits all income levels and ethnicities.
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